Earning Your Retirement Benefit (Vesting)

If You Are Not Yet Vested

If you are not yet vested in the Plan, but have at least one year of service, and you have a break in service, your vesting service may be restored when you are rehired if...

• You are gone less than five years, or

• Your break in service is shorter than your length of service before the break.

If you meet either of these conditions, you will become a participant when you are rehired and your pre-break service will be restored.

If you have a break in service and do not meet the above conditions, you will lose the vesting service you had earned before the break, and you must wait one year before your participation in the Plan resumes.

If You Are Vested

If you have a break in service and are vested when you leave A&B, you generally will not lose any benefits by leaving A&B and then returning. You will resume participation in the Plan when you are rehired. Your pre-break credited benefit service will be restored unless you received a lump-sum payment.

Exceptions To Breaks In Service

If you take an approved leave of absence, your service will be deemed to continue during the leave, provided you return to work for A&B at the end of the approved leave. Otherwise, your service will be deemed to end on the...

• Date your employment ends for any reason, or

• First anniversary of the date you were first actually absent from service

... whichever occurs first.

There is, however, one exception to this provision: If you are absent from work due to a parental leave, you will have a break in service only if you do not return to active service within two years after your service ended. For the purposes of this provision, a parental leave is one for which you are absent due to pregnancy, the birth of a child, the placement of a child with you in connection with the adoption of that child, or caring for a child immediately following the child's birth or adoption.

If you transfer from one A&B company to another , your credited vesting and benefit service will be transferred to your new plan. If you were already a participant in the plan sponsored by your previous A&B employer, you will immediately become a participant in the plan sponsored by your new A&B employer.

If you are absent due to service in the uniformed services of the U.S., the period of your absence guaranteed by Federal law will count as service for the purposes of this Plan, provided you...

• Are a Plan participant, and

• Return to work for the Company before your veteran's re-employment rights end.